Sports car parties entice high-end home buyers on the Westside

Sports car-themed parties are in vogue as a way to call interest to area trophy homes for sale.

Sports car-themed parties are in vogue as a way to call interest to area trophy homes for sale.

Lauren Beale

In the competitive Westside housing market, where one-upmanship is the rule, agents and brokers are continually trying to outdo one another with enticing events that will draw a moneyed home buyer to a trophy home that’s on the market. Sports cars seem to be in the driver's seat right now.

A compound built on part of the old Errol Flynn estate in Hollywood Hills West was the site last month of a broker preview geared to car buffs. To reach the main house, visitors passed by nine garages with glass doors where the owner keeps his Ferrari collection on display.

A local BMW dealer was persuaded to get in on the act too, according to sibling listing agent team Josh and Matt Altman of Hilton & Hyland/Christie’s International Real Estate. The late model BMWs spilled out of the driveway, and a weekend test drive of a BMW Alpina B7 was the raffle prize.

The garages, contemporary-style house, guest house, swimming pool and other water features sit on nearly an acre with lawn and mature trees. There are five bedrooms, seven bathrooms and 7,641 square feet of living space.

The asking price, without the autos, is $7.9 million. But, as they say in real estate, everything is negotiable.

Platters of sushi kept attendees sustained throughout the evening.

The Agency in Beverly Hills hosted a Lamborghini event Thursday at a newly built Hagy Belzberg-designed home in Hollywood Hills West. The preview party -- the compound won’t officially be on the market until early July -- drew a crowd who toured the 10,500-square-foot main house, 1,750-square-foot guesthouse and 725-square-foot gym/wellness center above the garage.

Encompassing more than an acre just above Sunset Strip, the Modern-style estate has city views, multiple balconies and an infinity pool. There are eight bedrooms and nine bathrooms in the resort-like residence. Blair Chang, Billy Rose and Mauricio Umansky of the Agency and Drew Fenton of Hilton & Hyland/Christie's International Real Estate are marketing the property at $28.8 million.

Chef Michael Voltaggio of ink in L.A. prepared small plates, and a string of Lamborghinis lined the driveway.

Sports car parties are part of the tools of the trade at Deasy/Penner & Partners. The architecturally oriented real estate company once had an event pairing Jaguar and a catered dinner by Patina and, more recently, held one in conjunction with Worth magazine and Aston Martin. Several hundred people turned out to see the latest models at a $6-million home for sale in Pasadena.

“We would do it again,” said George Penner, president and co-managing director of the realty firm. “We pride ourselves on marketing homes with great design, so to partner with well-designed cars is a nice parallel.”

The addition of guests from Worth’s subscriber database, however, may have tipped the scales in favor of a sale, Penner said. “We are in dialogue with a potential buyer.”